KINGWOOD, June 5, 2014 - Precinct 4 Deputy Constables arrested a Houston man Monday after he tried to pawn items stolen from a local daycare where the suspect admitted he broke in, helped himself to some food, and stayed for quite a while before setting off the alarm system.

Denton Rodriguez, 23, of Houston is charged with three counts of state jail felony Burglary of a Building.

Rodriguez admitted targeting The Rocking Horse Daycare in on Kings Manor Drive in the Montgomery County part of Kingwood twice over the weekend, despite learning on his first visit the business had an alarm system. Sometime early Saturday, Rodriguez and another man kicked in the backdoor and entered the business, the alarm activated and they immediately fled. Law enforcement responded, along with the business owner, who secured the building.

Rodriguez later returned alone and made entry a different way. The second time, he got lucky and his point of entry bypassed the alarm system. Rodriguez went to the kitchen where he ate food, tossed items around and used a cooking pot as a toilet. He said after spending a considerable amount of time in that area, he entered another area where he activated the alarm system’s motion detector. When the alarm began to sound, Rodriguez again fled, this time taking a laptop computer, a Wii game console, games and other accessories.

Members of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the Precinct 4 Constable’s Office were involved in the investigations. An MCSO deputy suspected Rodriguez committed the offense because of a similar incident he investigated at The Preserve Apartments in Kingwood, where someone broke into the office and took food, perfume, and money from a donations box for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a treatment and research facility that treats children with cancer and other catastrophic illnesses free of charge. Witnesses reported seeing Rodriguez nearby carrying a perfume bottle and an oven mitt containing money he was counting.
Deputies provided the business owner with a photo of Rodriguez so he and his staff could watch for him around the business. The daycare owner took the photo to the Redi Cash Pawn Shop on Loop 494 in Porter, where he showed the owner and explained the situation, asking him to call police if Rodriguez came in with the stolen items. The pawn shop owner said it was 10 minutes or less before Rodriguez did just that. He called police and the daycare owner.

Around 2:30 p.m. deputies responded and found Rodriguez with the items stolen from the daycare. A second male had driven Rodriguez to the pawn shop, but cooperate with investigating deputies and is not believed to be involved. He told deputies Rodriguez asked for a ride, during which they stopped and Rodriguez went into the woods and retrieved the items he was attempting to pawn.

The daycare owner returned to the pawn shop and identified the stolen items and Rodriguez admitted to both crimes. His arrest is expected to clear other area burglaries.